1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to securement devices. More specifically, it relates to a securement device for video or still cameras. Even more specifically, it relates to a device that would allow a video or still camera to be fixed in a wide variety of positions and angles relative to the surface that the camera is attached to. More generally, the device could be used to secure any type object in a fixed position relative to a support surface. For example, the mount described herein could easily be used to position a fishing rod so that it could extend under low lying branches at the edge of a body of water.
Thus it can be seen that the potential fields of use for this invention are myriad and the particular preferred embodiment described herein is in no way meant to limit the use of the invention to the particular field chosen for exposition of the details of the invention.
A comprehensive listing of all the possible fields to which this invention may be applied is limited only by the imagination and is therefore not provided herein. Some of the more obvious applications are mentioned herein in the interest of providing a full and complete disclosure of the unique properties of this previously unknown general purpose article of manufacture. It is to be understood from the outset that the scope of this invention is not limited to these fields or to the specific examples of potential uses presented hereinafter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many applications for automatic or remote camera operation, a desire for concealment of the camera or an environment which occasions difficult camera angles relative to a stable camera support are encountered. The first case would be in a security or surveillance situation, where the visibility of the camera needs to be minimized. The second case would be occasioned in a wildlife photography shoot, for instance, where the animals involved are shy of humans, live in a biological niche that is difficult to reach or to stay in for any length of time (high treetops, for example), or are dangerous. The present invention attempts to provide an improved camera mount that allows the user to position the camera in a number of ways such that concealment of the camera and/or obstacles to a free field of view to the lens (vegetation and the like) that cannot support the weight of the camera may be circumvented. A search in the united States Patent and Trademark Office uncovered a number of patents that relate to adjustable mountings and these are discussed hereinafter:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,032 issued on Mar. 27, 1984 to Jon M. Congdon discloses a portable camera support. This has a conventional mounting system that includes a strap and extendible leg combination. Unlike the instant invention, there is no disclosure of a plurality of ball joints integral with an equal number of mast portions to provide for a greater number of sections that can be angled in relation to one another along the entire mast extending from the instant invention's base.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,230 issued on Aug. 4, 1987 to Steven A. Smith there is disclosed a collar for retaining a camera bracket mount. This allows for movement about the axis of an upright camera support post but, as in the previous patent, no teaching of a plurality of separate mast portions having variable positional means is seen.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,988 issued on Nov. 14, 1967 to Harry D. Jamieson discloses a camera support clamp. In this device, a strap cooperates with a foot to secure the article to a support. Contrast this to the instant invention, where the clamping portion of the preferred embodiment comprises a pair of clamping members that grip opposing sides of whatever the mount is meant to be attached to.
Next is U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,982 issued on Apr. 27, 1976 to David P. Lewis. This is an all angle camera mount with a vernier adjustment. Unlike the instant invention, the mast portion of this device is a single shaft, without the required interlocking ball joints.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,196 issued on Sep. 3, 1974 to John M. Protzman discloses a camera support. This device has clips and downwardly depending legs designed to engage a planar surface such as an automobile window. As in some of the other patents mentioned above, there is no teaching of the plurality of mast portions, each having its own adjustable and fixable ball joint.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.